The Fall
by The Song Siren
Summary: A few days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, on the East Side, Gilbert has a talk with a hopeful German. Late 1980s setting.


Red eyes scanned the many people that crowed the streets of East Berlin. Dirty white hair sticking up in all directions, the man made his way over to a curb and sat down. He closed his eyes in pain. Sitting, standing, walking; it all hurt.

Gilbert Weillschmidt, formerly known as the Kingdom of Prussia, had just literally got out of Hell. The Berlin Wall, separating East and West Berlin, was coming down. Many people had already jumped the wall, greeting family members, and friends. The thought made Gilbert happy, as he could feel their _happiness. _

But at the same time, there was a _bitterness_.

He couldn't cross the wall until they tore it down.

He had to wait days to see his _Brüder_.

The albino German buried his face in his hands. _Damn this all! _was all Gilbert thought, jumping slightly when a warm hand pressed against his arm. He raised his head, staring into sea blue eyes. Concern was heavy in them, blond eyebrows knotted together. Pale blond hair was framing her face, draped over one shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Gilbert pulled his arm away from her hand, eyes narrowing. The young women pull her hand back, rubbing her jean-covered arm.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Friederike Gutermuth. What's your name?" the women, Friederike, smiled at him, much too brightly. It reminded Gilbert of a certain Italian.

". . . Gilbert."

"It's nice to meet you, Gilbert!" her eyes stated glued to his. "Do you have family on the West side?" the question was so bold and forward, it took Gilbert by surprise. Friederike's smile faded a bit, as if just realizing how bold she was being with a stranger. "I'm sorry, I-"

"My younger _Brüder_. You?"

Her smile came back a bit, and shook her head. "No. Most of my family left to Austria two years ago. My _Opa _died one year ago." from the look on her face, Gilbert could tell the only thing that affected her was her _Grossvater's_ death.

"You miss him?"

"Very. You're brother?"

"Yeah."

The two Germans sat in silence; the only noise was from the crowd around them. Gilbert and Friederike kept their eyes glued to each other. Not many people could look him in the eyes for as long as Friederike as. Her blue eyes refused to leave his red ones.

"_Opa _used to sit me in his lap," she began, turning her eyes away from Gilbert. "and he would tell me stories of Prussia." the albino sat up a little straighter. People still talk about his once great nation? "He was born there, and he, along with others, were crushed when it was dissolved and no longer a country in 1947." this hit Gilbert hard.

He was longer a country. Why was he here?

"Though," Friederike continued, turning her eyes back to him. "to him, East Germany is Prussia. It's why when our family left, he stayed." her smile still kept strong. This, again, hit Gilbert hard. He was still here, right? So, he was attached to land somewhere.

_East and West. _

_Just like __Italy__'s North and South._

Against his better judgment, Gilbert had a small smile. That sounded right, it _sounded perfect. _

"Many people still have Prussian blood, so the Prussian spirit is still alive! As a matter of fact, I'm named after King Frederick 1 of Prussia!" Pride crept into Gilbert after hearing who she was named after, his favorite ruler. But, though her sentence was happy, her smile faded and she bit her lip. "Will Germans ever have their spirit back?"

Gilbert's eyes widen a bit. How was his _Brüder _doing? The last time he had seen him, he was a mess.

Broken.

Would Germany ever recover?

"I hope so." him specking must have surprised her. She blinked for a few seconds, but then smiled.

"Me too! Despite what happened," at this, Gilbert grimaced. "Germany is still a wonderful place! Great people have come from here, it has a beautiful country side and well, not a lot of people would say this out loud, but, I love Germany." that much was true, Gilbert had to admit. And it disgusted Gilbert that today's German had to feel guilt for what happened years ago, for something they had nothing to do with. Hell, most of them hadn't even been born yet!

But to hear this young German women speak like that made him feel up with hope. Her kids will love Germany.

"Someday," Friederike said, even as Gilbert was thinking it. "we will proudly raise the German flag and feel pride for our Germany. Someday, we will feel good about being German." she let her tears fall, her smile still on her lips. She reached over and laid her hand over Gilberts.

And Gilbert let her.

He put his over hand over hers and squeezed; his own smile on his lips.

"Thank you for giving me hope, Friederike."

A few days later, the wall started to come down. Gilbert was the first who ran throw the open space, ignoring the pain and easily spotting the blonde hair, blue eyed nation he had raised.

Their union was a happy one.

As Gilbert hugged his _Brüder _tightly, red eyes glanced around and spotted a familiar smile.

Friederike smiled at him and his _Brüder, _happy they frond each other.

_One day, Germans will feel that pride in them as the German flag is raised. They will not be afraid to show they love their country. _

* * *

**_A/N _**- I feel so proud of Germany; finally they have started to raise their flags in pride. Though, some people are edgy of it, I see nothing wrong with it. Germany is a beautiful country with a bad patch in history. Everyone has that. What they did was wrong, yes, but the German people, and even some of the officers, didn't know what was happening in those camps. Americans, Canadians, Chinese, French and many other counties can raise their flags, let Germany.

**_Disclaimer _**- I do not own Hetalia - Axis Powers (World Series), nor it's Characters. They belong to the great Hidekaz Himaruya. I only own Friederike Gutermuth.

_Brüder - _Brother

_Opa/Grossvater -_ Grandpa/Grandfather

**Friederike **- Female form of **Friedrich. **High German, meaning "peaceful ruler."

**Gutermuth - **Derived from the Middle High German words _guot _meaning "good" and _muot _meaning "mind or spirit. It also means "good spirit, good cheer". It was a name for an optimistic person.

I think I named her right. XD

**Trivia **-

During the "Berlin Wall Years" many East Germans crossed the border over to Hungary or Austria. It was very risky, as many were killed for it.

With the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1918, the Kingdom of Prussia was dissolved and replaced with the Free State of Prussia.


End file.
